QB Tanks

flydjd · #1 05-19-2006, 09:31 AM

Hi all,

I have QB wings and have just started fitting the Stewart Warner floats when I noticed that my QB standard fuel pick-up arms do not reach the bottom of the tanks - they are about 1/2" off the bottom but the relevant drawing shows them lying against the bottom skins.

Comments please !
(Including advice on bending them in situ as I have just safety wired in accordance with the SB - and for info both of my fittings were properly tightened)

Also (2 Q's for the price of 1) for anyone that has used the floats did you adjust the length of the wire so that the floats went all the way to the top and bottom or a little way off ?

Thanks

sf3543 · #2 05-19-2006, 09:51 AM

I adjusted mine so that the floats hit at the top and bottom. But, I'm using the EI gauges so you can calibrate them for empty, full and several levels in between.

You should be able to take the wire out of the sender in order to rebend it with out taking everything else apart. In my case, the dimensions shown on the plans worked out fine and gave the correct amount of travel with very little tweaking. Stewart Warner will send you a new float wire if you have cut it too short and need a new one. I did that a few years back on my RV6, but this time on the -8 it worked out fine.
Now that I think about it, I had analog gauges on the -6 and I had to have the manufacturer recalibrate the gauges to match the senders. I had to provide the resistence readings and they did it for free. Worked great after that.

flydjd · #3 05-20-2006, 02:17 AM

Hi all,

Can anyone else please respond especially to part 1 of my Q's -

Should the standard pick up go all the way to the bottom of the tank or will it pick up all the Gunk if you run the tanks that low (ON THE GROUND

) -

Also has anyone calculated how much fuel is UN-useable for their tanks ?

Thanks

fodrv7 · #4 05-20-2006, 02:30 AM

Dave,
I bent mine up about a cm (love the metric system) and decided if I lost a litre or two to usuable I should be needing it any way. By then I should have found a paddock to land in.

Sorry I can't be more definitive.
I also went to some trouble in bending the wire to ensure that the 'Sender" read the highest and lowest required OHMs at the top and the bottom of the tank.
I made up a mock tank in plywood and bent a piece of fencing wire until I had it correct and then used it as a template for the sender unit.

regards,
Pete.
Slowest builder in Aus.

sf3543 · #5 05-20-2006, 04:28 PM

The standard pick up should go all the way down and as far back as possible. Unusable fuel is practically zero this way, except for the fuel in the lines. If you do not get it all the way down and back, you won't be getting all the fuel. You shouldn't get any gunk in your tanks. In my tanks, you can see the screen on the pick up tube through the drain hole. This is the way it should be.

flydjd · #6 05-21-2006, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sf3543

The standard pick up should go all the way down and as far back as possible. Unusable fuel is practically zero this way, except for the fuel in the lines. If you do not get it all the way down and back, you won't be getting all the fuel. You shouldn't get any gunk in your tanks. In my tanks, you can see the screen on the pick up tube through the drain hole. This is the way it should be.

Sorry but I thought that the screen (cuts in the tube) should be on the side of the tube facing in towards the middle of the tank - are you suggesting that it should face out towards the drain hole ?

sf3543 · #7 05-21-2006, 10:07 AM

It doesn't matter where the cuts are as long as the tube is as far aft and as far inboard as possible. My personal preference is the tube with the actual finger screen attached to it rather than the ones with the cuts in the tubing, but they probably both work equally well.

Mel · #8 05-21-2006, 10:53 AM

The new finger screens are a lot less prone to blockage by debris. Besides, if you order the new pickups, the "B" nuts come pre-drilled for safety wire.